{"id":17434,"date":"2026-08-12T14:18:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valenciaandgo.com\/?p=17434"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:25:27","slug":"la-tomatina-in-bunol-a-true-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valenciaandgo.com\/en\/tomatina-bunol-historia-real\/","title":{"rendered":"La Tomatina in Bu\u00f1ol 2026: the true story behind the world\u2019s most famous tomato fight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The party you can\u2019t afford to miss<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Did you know that the festival which brings together thousands of people from all over the world<\/strong> It did not arise from any tourism plan, but rather from a street brawl<\/strong> of the ones you don\u2019t see any more? Each the last Wednesday in August<\/strong>, the small village of Bu\u00f1ol<\/strong>, less than an hour from Valencia, is decked out in red from top to bottom. If you\u2019re in the area this summer and want to experience it properly (and really understand what you\u2019re celebrating), read on.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The true story of La Tomatina (and no, it wasn\u2019t invented by any local council)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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It all goes back to 1945<\/strong>. During the parade of Giants and Big-Heads at the Bu\u00f1ol festivities, a group of young people joined the procession in a bid to steal the limelight. In the scuffle, someone ended up on the ground and, without giving it a second thought, started slapping whoever was closest to them. Nearby was a vegetable stall<\/strong>. The tomatoes flew, and the row turned into mass brawl<\/strong> and the square ended up in a right mess.<\/span><\/p>

The following year, a group of those young people repeated the prank on their own initiative, this time bringing the tomatoes from home. The local council did not look kindly on it and went so far as to ban it several times throughout the 1950s, with the Civil Guard stepping in to break up the tomato fight. But the townspeople persisted, and what began as a prank eventually turned into official celebration<\/strong>: today La Tomatina has a history stretching back more than 80 years and has been designated a Festival of International Tourist Interest.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

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When is La Tomatina 2026?\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The event, as is traditional, is the last Wednesday in August: 26 August 2026<\/strong>, in the main square of the town of Bu\u00f1ol (Valencia). The official battle lasts just one hour, from 12:00 to 13:00<\/strong>, although the festivities begin much earlier: at around 9.00 am, the Town Hall hands out pastries to the participants and the \u00abpalojab\u00f3n\u00bb gets underway \u2013 a greased pole that you have to climb to retrieve a ham (spoiler: almost nobody manages it, and that\u2019s part of the fun).<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019re going with children, there\u2019s a version designed especially for them \u2014The Children\u2019s Tomatina<\/strong>\u2014, which takes place a few days earlier, around 22 August, with adapted rules.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How to get to Bu\u00f1ol from Valencia\n\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Bu\u00f1ol is about 40 km<\/strong> from the city of Valencia, less than an hour away by car, bus or train<\/strong> the Commuter Rail service (line C-3, which stops in the village itself). <\/span><\/p>

Watch out<\/strong>: Access to the village by private car is restricted on that day, so the most convenient option is usually to travel by train or on an organised coach from Valencia.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The golden rules for enjoying it without making a mess\n\n\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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